The Besieged Desert. War, drought, poaching in the Namib Desert. Mitch Reardon.

 (London: Collins, 1986), 1986. 8vo; original brown boards; laminated pictorial price-clipped dustwrapper; pp. 158; map; colour photographs. Reverse of dustwrapper very slightly foxed. Very good condition. "North-west Namibia is a desert - rugged, utterly uncompromising, frequently beautiful and always fascinating. It comprises two adjoining tribal homelands, Damaraland and Kaokoland, and until recently was virtually untouched by the intrusive influence of the technological age. Here live great herbivores such as elephants, rhinos, and giraffe, in an environment unlike any other in Africa. Living amongst them are Himba Pastoralists, a tribe that time has left behind. The author joined the area's resident ecologist Garth Owen-Smith, to see for himself what has happened here. This book deals with the people they met and the wildlife encountered - it tackles the problems caused by the war between the South African Army and the Swapo guerillas which has spilled over into the area; the poaching that is going on there, and the effects of a crippling five-year drought.".